Several posts - UPDATES!!!

Hi all,

I want to start this post by saying, "I'm sorry I'm behind!"  I really have two excuses. 1) Life is insanely busy and 2) I miss him so much that some days this is hard to do.  With that said, I am going to post all of the updates in this one post.  So here ya go!:

10/19/2015

Good afternoon! I am still staying in Adelanto to finish training my new missionary! :)

This is Dale and Debbie. Debbie is less active and Dale is a non member. They have us come over every Saturday and they feed us. Dale is from Arkansas but lived in Iowa for a little bit but can make anything taste amazing on his grill. They are the best people ever and make me feel like I am at home. We got to carve pumpkins with them this past Saturday! 

my pumpkin is the one on the right, and yes I like the camera because now I can email pics from it lol. (His first camera got broken in a bike wreck!  we were finally able to replace it)

10/5/2015

Good afternoon mi amigos:)

So upon contemplating what I was going to email you today my mind has gone blank. So I will just go through the week.:

We were able to get Ether on a baptismal date and also his brother who are both looking forward to being baptized. Another kid we contacted on the street told us he would read a chapter a day out of the Book of Mormon!!!

Conference was amazing. Learning more to become more converted to the Lord is always needed. I think ponderizing is a genius and something I definitely want to do! I got to have the privilege of crashing on my bike again, luckily only a couple cuts and bruises. Anyways, I honestly can't think right now so sorry this is a poor email but I hope you all have a great week! Stay safe! Love and miss you!  

9/21/2015

I've been really good! Adelanto has been amazing for missionary work. We set a high goal of teaching 13 investigator lessons this week. We tracted this road and got two golden investigator and another for the Spanish Elders. One of the investigators we met with on Saturday and he is so prepared of the Lord. I had to fight back tears during the lesson. The spirit was so strong. It is those times that makes me proud to be a missionary and it feels like hard work is paying off!

Gots to go!

Love you a bunch!

9/17/2015  - spoiler alert - I get chastised a small bit for email the President (#mommaprobs)

Yes I am back from not emailing. Last week was transfers and also Labor day so libraries were closed. We were authorized to email on Tuesday, but I had to go back down the hill to pick up the new missionary that I am training. His name is Elder Waters from Cedar City Utah. By the time we got back from Rancho it was 6:30 and had to go grocery shopping so didn't have time to email. So here I am on temple/ preparation day. 

Yes Sandi I know you emailed President. I got a phone call from him, and a phone call from brother Hivner my ward mission leader. I am not mad at all, but if I haven't emailed there is a reason and you shouldn't be worried enough to email President. He has enough on his hands especially with a general authority doing a mission tour this past week in our mission.

Training has been very hard and not like I thought it would be like. I notice having more weaknesses that I need to work on. I sometimes just don't think I am doing a great job, but I hope so. The temple trip was so needed. After 8 months of accumulating knowledge I was excited to learn more stuff in the temple and being able to recharge my missionary batteries was much needed as well.

Sounds like everything is going well! I love you all so much! I will email on Monday! That way I can write some things down to email you because my mind is traveling fast and just don't know where to begin on how my last two weeks have been. Stay safe!

Elder Jorvik Ty Harris

Rancho Cucamonga, California

My week in a nutshell.... spoiler alter - VERY POWERFUL!

This week was unbelievable! At the beginning of the week we set a goal of teaching 8 investigator lessons. And we did it!!! 2 Member Presents, 6 other lessons, and 5 less-actives/ recent converts. We also found 3 more new investigators, and have another already attending church, and now wants to be baptized... piece of cake!:)

I think Elder Haueter and I have hit a groove and now reaping the benefits of having exact obedience and working hard with one goal in mind: to invite others to come unto Christ.

This week I also went on exchanges to the Victorville Samoan ward. Which was so much fun! Met a family from Brisbane, Australia and another family from New Zealand. It was pretty much a vacation that day. Haha but met one of their potentials and he is only 21, and already saying he is prepared to be baptized and wants to go on a mission! Like what??? Where can I get one of those in my ward boundaries???? hahaha.

FYI: My ankle is doing much better just still bruised and a little swollen still, but nonetheless still trucking along, and no I didn't play basketball earlier today;)

So over the course of the transfer Elder Haueter and I have been working hard to teach better because in this area it is easy to find investigators but difficult to get them to progress. We have changed our teaching and now have 3 progressing and hopefully more this next week. But there is so much more I have to work on. I have noticed how important the spirit is in lessons. Some of the new investigators we picked up don't have time for a 30-45 minute lesson, so Elder Haueter and I have been practicing, practicing, and practicing on short powerful statements, short testimony, and looking for inspired questions. Well we came to the mutual agreement that we have to put it to the test. So last night we taught A (who has come to church twice now!) and some of her family. We taught the Plan of Salvation in 15-20 minutes and it was amazing. Elder Haueter and I work great with one another and the spirit was there! This ward is bomb! Don't tell anyone but I love it more than Chino! So yesterday was awesome. Jared Grahm got home from his mission in Chile so he gave his homecoming talk, and Ben Metcalf gove his farewell talk as he leaves to Denver, Colorado. We have been taking Jard out with us, and he is super awesome! And he is teaching us a little Spanish. I have never got this in my whole life, but everyone that we come in contact with think I am Latino hahahaha.

SHARING TIME
So lately at nights Elder Haueter and I have been reflecting on how we even got here. Just looking back and seeing the Lord protecting me so that I may be out here. Why? I am just a 18 year old kid who has only been out for 7 months and still have no idea what I am doing. I talk to everyone, everywhere, at all times but I am still scared to death. As you know I have been studying Joseph Smith, who is amazing, but we all start off somewhere. I remember reading something but this is all I remember but it starts off like:

You may think, "But my life and earthly destiny will never be like that of Joseph Smith." That is probably true. But it is also true that your lives matter to God, and your eternal potential and that of every soul you will meet is no less grand and significant than that of the Prophet Joseph himself. Thus, just like our beloved Joseph, you MUST NEVER give up, give in, or give out when life in general gets utterly painful, confusing, or dull. Rather as Paul teaches, you must see that "all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose" ( Romans 8:28). Just as He did with young Joseph Smith, God is shaping you and directing you  every single day to ends more glorious than you can know!
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So you ask me for what insights I have on the mission and honestly everyday I have studies therefore receiving insight every single day and I have them written down in study journals, but I guess the most useful thing for us all to know God's miracles are not happening just in my life, or in a land far away. Look around you! In the recent General Conference talk Neil L. Andersen said,"As you keep the commandments and pray in faith to see the Lord's hand in your life, I promise you that He will open your spiritual eyes even wider, and you will see more clearly that you ARE NOT ALONE!"
So before I left on my mission dad told me he can't wait to hear what my prayers sound like when I get home. I was thrown off by that statement because I thought my prayers were going to, for the most part, stay the same. Now days I am so honest with Heavenly Father I feel His presence more. I remember one day I was feeling particularly exhausted when 6:30 rolled around. I got out of bed and onto my knees and said, "LOrd, I am miserable...." And sure enough I had that sweet feeling of the Holy Ghost assuring me I will be just fine. Everyday is like that, but having that knowledge of how prayer is so powerful I enjoy waking up and kneeling, I enjoy praying at every chance I have because I recharge. The mind and heart open. And just like the followers of King Benjamin, my door is facing Him. If you can always invite the spirit of the Lord everyday in your life you can jump over any obstacle. But remember it has to be sincere and takes effort "all the energies of the heart." It is such a small insight, but leads to mighty changes.

Well that's all the fun I have to report right now! I am doing swell and loving my mission which is going by too fast! Can't believe we are already in week 5 of transfers. It honestly feels like yesterday I just got to this area. Time goes fast when you are having fun I guess hahaha. Glad to hear you all are well! I pray for you all all the time! Love you guys so much! Have a great week!

Elder Harris

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Elder Jorvik Ty Harris
Rancho Cucamonga, California

Keep Calm and Pray On~

Good afternoon!!!

Sorry this is late, but we went hiking in Wrightwood today in abandoned mine shafts. I will send pics next week but the view from on top of the mountain looks like a screen saver. Anyways Elder Haueter and I set a goal to teach 9 investigator lessons and we only got 8. But I saw the importance of setting high goals for us that are do able, as you know, plans never go the way we want lol. It really stretched us. We set a goal this week for 12 investigator lessons which will be fun to strive to reach. I have been studying a lot in Alma 18-23 lately and have found so much insight into how to improve my teaching. At the beginning of my mission I felt overwhelmed because I thought I was inadequate to teach, and I thought later on I would be fine. But honestly if you are true with yourself you will always feel inadequate. That is why the way to teach is with the Spirit because there literally is no other way.

Dad- I am so sorry, but I have been so busy this transfer that I have not been thinking about home at all. Now don't think I don't miss you guys because I do, but I haven't had time to think about it. And yesterday after Stake Conference we were invited to go support ,now Elder Metcalf, in our ward get set apart. I realized that it is your birthday... So again I am so sorry and when I get more stamps I will send you a late birthday card!!! Please still love me;)

This is week 6! This transfer has gone by so fast! I will be very upset if either Elder Haueter or I get transferred out, but we will see.

I am sorry this is to everyone, but right now I am so tired and exhausted that I don't have the patience to type up a email to everyone individually. I love you all, and miss you guys tremendously. Keep calm and pray on.

Elder Harris:)

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Elder Jorvik Ty Harris
Rancho Cucamonga, California

I am loving this mission!

Good afternoon!

My week has been great, until this morning playing basketball. I went up for a rebound and landed on someone's shoe and bruised/sprained my ankle... Can't wait to bike tonight!

I am loving this mission. I love waking up and just excited to go out and bike and do missionary work. Though this week we have had a heat advisory and has been 106-110 degrees all week. Just goes to show you how much the Lord's hand is in this work. Being able to wake up every morning at 6:25 and work out then go do missionary work has been a miracle, and if I did not have this sacred calling I probably could not physically do it.

As you know we picked up 3 investigators last week and we got another 4 this week, and we just got a referral today for someone who is already wanting to be baptized just needs to take missionary lessons.

So our problem has been to get our investigators to progress. Well Elder Haueter and I have assumed it is us not conforming the lessons to the individual person. So we have decided to actually use the amazing district videos and apply Preach My Gospel "Teaching Skills" and see what happens. Every companion study we plan our lessons out and what scriptures to read, transition sentences to go back and forth, testifying right after one of us says something, and letting the investigator read the scriptures. This week we met with L and we had the lesson, and never have I ever been in a lesson where the spirit was felt so strongly. She is now reading the Book of Mormon. Another investigator we have, A, finally came to church and in Gospel Principle class we had a lesson over the Word Of Wisdom. We had no idea about the lesson plan because we do not teach it, but smokes and drinks. Well we met with her after church and said she just ran out of cigs and she is going to try and quit!!!!:)

I think I was taught the most powerful lesson on humility this week. Since we are in a heat advisory all last week we went to a park to sit down and cool off. A homeless guy came up to us and offered us ice cold water. Like what??? we of course said no, but sat down with him and talked to him. He is one of the nicest guys ever, and so we taught him the Restoration and left him a Book of Mormon to read. Miracles everywhere.

So this week I have been doing serious studying and pondering on Mosiah chapters 3-5 and Alma chapters 17-23. King Benjamin and Ammon and Aaron. I have been studying their teaching tactics and how they taught. King Benjamin covers all the "how to begin teaching" bullet points in PMG 176 which is exactly what we like to start off with. Ammon started teaching by providing service. Aaron started just preaching from synagogue to synagogue. Until he was cast into prison and sent before King Lamoni's father. Where he offers service, but the king was troubled in mind and wanted answers.

15 And they went forth again to declare the word, and thus they were delivered for the first time out of prison; and thus they had suffered.

For the first time... They went forth being persistent and constant. That is my goal. I find myself saying if they don't pick up the first time than we should try next week because I don't want to annoy them. This is Eternal Life! I am now being persistent and constant.

Another thing I am doing with Elder Haueter is taking the commitments that we should have them do and conform that into the lesson so they can see the importance of it also the relevance! Everyday I am excited to go out and preach and it has been a true blessing to be here in Adelanto! I have grown so much (not in a prideful way) but this is the missionary I wanted to be right when I got into the mission field. Our goal this week is to teach at the minimum 8 lessons to investigators but stretching for 13. It is so exciting, even though, I will be going on exchanges at least twice this week to the Samoan area which will also be exciting!

Anyways, that is my week in a nutshell. Now Halley driving????? oh boy..... hahaha just kidding Sister! I love you and thank you for the letter! When I get more stamps sometime in the future I will send you back a letter!

Cameron!!! Finally I get to hear from you! Hope all is well! Stay safe over there in Bulgaria! Love you bro!

Love you! Miss you tons!
Elder Harris


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Elder Jorvik Ty Harris
Rancho Cucamonga, California

Crunch time & Service

Hey!  It's crunch time!

We got to provide service and help move someone this morning!  We just had a lesson on service in Gospel principels yesterday so this seemed like a fitting way to spend our preparation day.  Granted, I would have enjoyed having my email time. I have to go but just know I am alive and well also picked up 3 new investigators so it's all good. lots of love!

Elder Harris

 

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So no message that he is starving this week...that's good.  Or it means he didn't have time to tell me about it.  Ugh.  It seems fitting to add something here about the importance of service.  So here goes:

 

"When ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God."  Mosiah 2:17

 

Jesus Christ said, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13). This doesn't mean we have to die to show our love for our friends. We lay down our lives every time we put someone else's needs before our own. (And the "friends" mentioned in the scripture above can be understood to be everyone we meet, since Jesus also commanded us to "love one another.")

We lay down our lives through service. Church members have many opportunities to serve. We can do small acts of kindness for our neighbors, take part in community service, fulfill responsibilities within our local congregations or contribute to the Church's large-scale humanitarian efforts. These actions, whether great or small, let us feel the happiness of connecting with our brothers and sisters and remind us that God often allows us to be the answer to someone else’s prayers.

Helping Others

Trials and Tribulations: Honest Truth About Missions

I am in Adelanto and we bike on an average of 20 miles a day. Since we are in the high desert it is hot and I have never sweat so much in my life.

Most of our plans fell through this week which resulted to us tracting for several hours with no success. We have 8 investigators and we are just dropping people left and right because no one has the desire to progress. I have no idea what to do. I am being the most obedient I have been thus far on the mission, and I know there are promised blessings of which may not be golden investigators but it is hard.

I did some study this week about Emma and Joseph Smith, in particular about Emma Smith and what happened before and after the Martyrdom of Joseph Smith and during all the hard trials. The faith and devotion Joseph had to the people of the church, his wife, and ultimately to the Lord is amazing. It got me to look through the whole Book of Mormon and I studied the relationships the prophets had with fellow men and to the Lord. In the end result everyone of them went through hardships and trials. And I know hardships are  to try our faith and patience, but it has been 6 months and still going through the mission not finding a golden investigator. I don't know what I am doing wrong.

Anyway, members don't feed us here. We have 3 dinner appointments this whole month, so I am learning how to cook now. I didn't know that so this past week I had like no food..

So jealous you guys got to go to the temple. The 7 months I will be out I have yet to go to the temple.:(

 

Glad to here everything is going well!

Hope you have a great week! Love you all!

 

Elder Harris

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That was a hard email to get.  Made this momma worry. I was praying that he would have some renewed energy in his new area.  I am going to hold out hope that things will improve.  In thinking about his experiences and searching online for some guidance, I found this blog called Sand and Sunshine.  Here is one of the posts from that blog:

 

The Honest Truth About Missions

 "So are you getting paid to do this?"

"Nope"

"Are you getting some kind of school credit?"

"No"

"What about church promotion?"

"Nope"

"Well how about community recognition?"

"Definitely not"
 "Then why would you EVER choose to do what you're doing??"

 He had a point. I'd been talking to one of our investigators about missions and how we work as missionaries, and his final question wasn't foreign in my mind. I'd asked myself that question many times. 

You asked for honest. Here's honest.

I believe many--my pre-mission self included--have a warped opinion of what it's like to be a missionary. Before I put on the tag, I had only a vague idea of what it was really like to actually be in those shoes.

I thought they were perfect.
I thought they were always happy.
I thought they loved every minute of their service.
I thought they were invincible.
I thought they didn't have a care in the world.
I thought it was probably hard work, but easy to love.
I thought they were almost always successful.
I thought that it was easy for them to sacrifice.

It seems like a lifetime away since I lived life not as a missionary. In the time that's followed--now 14 months into my mission--I've come to see missionaries and missions in a completely different light.

"Sister Parker, missions are 98% hard work, struggle, disappointment, difficulty, sorrow, and even pain. 2%.......2% is pure joy," my mission president told me during one of our first interviews together. 
He was right. SO right.

Here's the honest truth: missionaries hide a lot. Sometimes it's behind a smile as someone slams the door in our face after cussing us out. Other times it's behind closed doors when we fall to our knees, sobbing and begging for the help of The Lord to carry us through. And at other times, it's only disclosed in a simple journal entry reading, "Why aren't we seeing more success?" or "Why is this so hard??" Investigators don't see the tears we cry the night they've told us they're no longer interested in meeting with us. The strangers on the street don't see our hearts sink when they refuse to listen and instead call us names. The family members back home don't see the long sleepless nights when we can't think of anything but the faces of those we miss. The members don't see our pain when ten minutes before church, an investigator calls to say he won't be able make it. And even our companions don't always see our exhaustion after a long and difficult day. 


Let's get raw:

I'm not perfect.
I'm not always happy.
I don't always love every minute of it.
I'm not invincible.
I struggle.
It's hard back-breaking work, and not always easy to love.
I'm not always successful.


And it is HARD to sacrifice.

I've missed the weddings of two siblings.

I’ve missed the farewell of a brother leaving to serve in Russia and

I’ll soon miss the farewell of another brother leaving to serve in Portland, Oregon.
I've had more medical problems on the mission than I have my entire life.
I've been called every name in the book, and been harassed for what I believe.
I've struggled with difficult companions, areas, and people.
I've spent long and lonely nights, aching for help and comfort.
I miss home and family every. single. day.

I’ve cried more tears in the last 14 months than I have in the last 14 years.
I question my ability to succeed often.
I feel completely inadequate to meet the needs of those around me.

I often feel weak, lonely, exhausted, frustrated, disappointed, and homesick.

And yet…….my mission president continued, “Sister Parker, missions are 98% hard work, struggle, disappointment, difficulty, sorrow, and even pain. 2%.......2% is pure joy…….  
And somehow that 2% makes it ALL WORTH IT.
I don’t even know how it’s possible. Serving as a missionary is THE hardest thing I have ever done. By far. It’s more demanding, challenging, and draining than anything I’ve ever experienced.

And somehow…..somehow……it is all worth it.

Yes…I struggle.

Yes…I fall.

Yes...I long for home and family.

Yes…I miss the comforts I gave up.

Yes…I often wish people understood how much we sacrifice just to bring them the gospel and make their lives better.

Yes…I’m FAR from perfect.

Yes…I’m weak and inadequate.

 

And YES…..my mission has transformed me and others into people we wouldn’t have been without it. Therefore, YES…..it is worth it.

That pure joy—PURE JOY—that President told me about……I had no idea what that was like until I became a missionary and have seen the gospel change lives, including mine. Most of the time, the joy we experience as missionaries isn’t even our own. It’s the joy we feel seeing others experience the joy of the gospel……Yes, it doesn’t come often. It takes HARD work to get. But it is PURE. It’s a joy I’ve never felt before in my entire life. And I believe it is a type of joy that few will ever feel. And it comes only to those who are willing to sacrifice everything for the Lord in order to receive it.

So yes….. I’ve often thought and often been asked: "Why would I EVER choose to do what I do??"

It IS hard. It doesn’t even make since to the outside world why young missionaries like me would go out for 18-24 months, paying thousands of dollars to go, abide by such strict rules, live such a rigorous schedule, have such limited communication with family and friends, and all just to share a message about Jesus Christ and His restored gospel.

I do it because IT’S TRUE. I would not be here….doing this, sacrificing like this….if I didn’t know with all my heart that it is true. It has changed my life, and I continue to see it change others’ lives.

 That is undeniable.

I can’t even begin to describe to someone why, specifically, being a missionary is so incredibly difficult. 
It’s much harder than I’ll ever be able to express. But while, I don’t believe my mission will ever be easy…..nor that sacrifice or conversion will ever be easy…….I KNOW that with the help of God, it’s worth it.

Now go hug a missionary ……... they need it:)

 

 

Transfers!

Hello Everyone! Hope all is well! So yes the news is out, and I have no idea about the Instagram pictures but hope they were good! They were the greatest family, and I can't wait to visit them after the mission. 

So I have been transferred out into the high desert. I am in Adelanto still biking but the area is small. I live in a mission house with the zone leaders who have a truck and are our ward mates. My new comp. is Elder Hauter. Everyone says Adelanto is one of the promise lands to go to so I am excited to be here.

So my last week with Elder Pritchard was fun! The Stake Pioneer activity was a blast and we got to play volleyball which was fun.

The mission is such a blast. I have been so happy and have felt so much comfort in being here.

We went over to a home, and the member was sad because his aunt was on vacation and had one of her kidneys fail, and it is $20,000 to medivac her back to California and he had been praying for something and then we showed up. Obviously we don't have $20,000 but he was saying, "the sense of peace he gets when we are there. He knows and can feel Heavenly Fathers presence when we come." I just thought how awesome it is to be able to have the spirit to bring to people if they let us. And sadly sometimes I take it for grant it.

Love you Guys! And Elder Packham I will talk to you next week just right now we are running short on time!

Miss you all!


Elder Harris


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Elder Jorvik Ty Harris
Rancho Cucamonga, California